There’s something magical about writing. Fiction or non-fiction. Prose, radio or screen. Whatever kind it is, there’s a spark. It leads to another world, another place. As each letter takes a place on the page, I am transported from my settee cushion to whatever time, place or world I am writing about.
It’s like being in two worlds, two realities. The here and now that is my life with all the interesting, unexpected events of each day. And then in the world of a character, seeing what they see; a personal cinema experience. The story changes as the character replays a scene, makes a different decision than before. Their actions are not the ones jotted down on the plan.
Each key stroke brings a new twist that even I don’t always see coming.
Writing is more than a passion for me, it’s who I am. It’s the thing that keeps my mind going. No… actually, my mind is constantly chatting, telling me stories, that the writing is what releases the chatter. And it’s a wonderful feeling. Not just the release, but also living in the world of my characters, watching the flesh be built around them and the world that I created; watching it unravel.
Writing Experience
Over the years, I have been honing my written craft through university. I studied at the University of Derby and gained two degrees: BA Honours in Creative and Professional Writing (2018) and MA in Writing for Performance (2019). The latter saw a collaborative radio project, When the Boys Come Home produced and distributed. I thought that would be it for my study but the pandemic plummeted me into two years of boredom and ushered me head-first to a PhD at Coventry University in 2021. This led me to Routledge and an opportunity to co-write an article with my supervisor on eighteenth-century author, Charlotte Turner Smith. It was published in The Routledge Companion to Romantic Women Writers December 2022.
My thesis, Marginalisation and Morality, A Creative Approach to Women and Pirates in the Eighteenth Century, is due to be submitted late 2024. It explores the lives and treatment of 18th century minorities in relation to discrimination against 21st century disabled individuals. Research into how fantasy tackles disability as the “Unfavourable Other” has shaped my historical fantasy novel, Seas’ Game. With its ability to mirror our world and create unfamiliarity, historical fantasy sparks discussion on the mistreatment of disabled people today.
What Little Sea Bear is about
I write about my favourite hobby, writing. Join me as I delve into magic’s core, embark on historic voyages, and reveal beings that only the trained eye can see. Learn more about my characters, my writing processes, and how I develop the world around me.
It’s is also about something that is the centre of who I am, disability. I have congenital cerebral palsy, dyslexia, anxiety and C-PTSD. Within media, disabled characters are often defined by their disability. They are not simply a being with a disability. While disability is core to who I am, it’s not what defines me. For me, it’s like having brown hair or green eyes. It’s a characteristic trait, something that can be seen. But there’s more to see.
There is also an empathise of disability as a childhood or elderly condition, with not much voice for those who are in-between. Many google searches on cerebral palsy or dyslexia have resulted in websites that says something along the line of “your child will”. When I started this blog in 2017, there was no voice on adult disability and Little Sea Bear adds this through personal experience and guest posts.
Little Sea Bear is a project of mine that has taken a life of its own. I am forever improving it.
A little Fact
Little Sea Bear has several layers to its name. First, I love polar bears. The Last Dragon Chronicles series by Chris De-Lacey is to blame for that. These magnificent creatures are sea bears, they spend their time in the ocean. S. E. A. are the initials to my first three names, Shannon Elayne Ann.
As a child, I hated this name. It was long, and no one knew how to spell it. There’s nothing more annoying than people getting your name wrong. The “A” in my name is Ann and just like Anne of Green Gables, I believed Ann should be spelt with an E, but oh well. I wouldn’t change it now. when people have accidentally added an E, it looked wrong. Felt wrong. I also have a speech impediment that prevents me from being able to say it. But as I became older and my obsession with the ocean took place, I fell in love with it. The perfect name that spells ‘sea’ and my surname could be turned into a pun. The Weston Sea.
When you hear a name pronounced can’t you always see it in your mind, just as if it was printed out? I can; and A-n-n looks dreadful, but A-n-n-e looks so much more distinguished.
– Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery